Microsystems are commonly assembled utilizing pick-and-place techniques. Pick-and-place assembly oftentimes utilize robotic systems that mechanically move and place devices on a receiving substrate. However, when assembling microsystems, pick-and-place techniques may be time consuming (e.g., due to serial assembly) and may encounter difficulties due to adhesive forces between manipulator surfaces and the devices.
More recently, various self-assembly techniques have been employed for forming microsystems. Self-assembly techniques are commonly carried out in one or more solutions (e.g., devices and a receiving substrate are disposed in the solution(s) during assembly). Some conventional self-assembly techniques utilize shape matching. Accordingly, a first type of device and a first subset of receptor sites on the receiving substrate can have corresponding shapes, a second type of device and a second subset of receptor sites on the receiving substrate can have corresponding shapes, and so forth. Such techniques can rely on random movement of the devices in the solution(s), leading to the devices fitting in corresponding receptor sites on the receiving substrate that have matching shapes. Other conventional self-assembly approaches utilize hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface interactions to drive self-assembly. However, conventional self-assembly techniques are often time consuming (e.g., self-assembly may take on the order of hours for assembly to complete, particularly if self-assembly is based on random movement of devices fitting into receptor sites on the receiving substrate). Moreover, yields of conventional self-assembly techniques are commonly insufficient.